Hardwig in his article provides a great scope of prospects as for the problem of death. Death is understood by him as the end which is better to be predicted for an individual. One cannot know where is his end-point and there are no direct patterns that symbolize the concrete date and time of a person’s death. While illustrating those people being seriously ill the author points out the extent of burden which is laid on the shoulders of those being closely related to these people. Hardwig demonstrating the possible variants of how people die also admits a hard role of those who are intended to be near and be involved somehow into this part of a relative’s life when a deep disappointment and fear goes along with probable satisfaction or dissatisfaction with life and its realities. Other people with a sort of terminating disease are highly debilitated with illness and can hardly carry this burden for them and their family as well.
Hardwig points out several cases of how gravely ill persons become burdens for their loved ones. This approach is considered with the fact of how these loved ones should, on the one hand, bear all those condemnations and disagreements with life and words about soon death along with a perpetual presence in a hospital or at home with a bedridden relative, so that, from the moral side of the issue, to promote appropriately the same attitudes toward them from further generations of heirs. On the other hand, as Hardwig stresses, many loved ones are strongly disappointed during the pre-death period and after a person leaves this world with “burdens of guilt, anger, and opportunities” (Hardwig, p. 43). It is so because many people wish they could change something in their relations with a person which is nearly to leave or leaves at all due o some reasons. One cannot be satisfied when the death of a loved person comes spontaneously without last words or meeting each other till the last minute. It is an issue of the moral frontier in relationships between individuals and those being closely related, in particular.
That is why the author outlines the necessity to find optimal decisions in the determination of death itself and when concretely will come the time of “end line” in a man’s life. Of course, this question is arguable enough, because every human being in his/her nature is more or less sensitive toward the beauty of life. Furthermore, it is natural for a man to search for eternity, even at the end of life, when people dreamed to meet, for example, God or dead relatives.
A prospect of love is significant here to distinctively describe the feelings of those who take care of their relative or too close person. Because of love, people are trying to make everything for those to whom this love is devoted. What is more, this prospect is also understood in many cases by people being ill or seriously damaged due to different reasons. These urge to facilitate the burden which seems to be fallen on their loved ones. It is hard to make out, but facts are a stubborn thing. Many people, patients, debilitating or bedridden, with big problems or just sick and tired of life are aware in many cases of the reflection which can be projected on their loved ones. Hardwig in this approach points out suicide as one of the ways to end life with everything you wanted to say or to do ultimately. Thus, the author notes with a straightforward responsibility: “If I plan to end my life by suicide, my family and loved ones should, if possible, have been prepared and able to feel the appropriateness and deep serenity of that decision. Even the goodbyes can be said in advance” (Hardwig, p. 43).
For instance, when mentioning a person who is ill with disease beyond cure, AIDS, cancer, or something else, there is one way which seems for him/her as the optimal. The speech is about suicide. In this case, an individual decides how to perform this act and how to prepare the loved ones so that they will understand the reasons for this choice in life. It is, of course, the most extreme way to face death, and it is condemned within society as the feature of the case. In other words, many researchers only state cases of suicide while there is no panacea from this social chimera. Notwithstanding, people stand now and then before a choice of how to maintain life and find the most ultimate decision of emotional, material, and other problems. Hardwig correlates suicide with a possibility of those who commit it to provide a better way for themselves: “If one can truly make one’s peace with it, suicide can give one a much better death than most alternatives” (Hardwig, p.43).
This deed, on the other hand, makes loved ones harshly suffer after suchlike bereavement. They are frustrated and upset with the reasons for such a deed. Moreover, living in the society these people can be blamed and can have an appropriate attitude from the side of other individuals. Furthermore, loved ones may think over that someone or something made an impact on their relative, and then it becomes one more point for them to worry about while investigating the real reasons for his/her death.
One more point which becomes a burden for loved ones concerns the fact of destiny unfairness and, probably, a feeling of guilt and sadness about their possible immixture to the reasons of death. Life is an endless chain of cause and consequent relations between various events. Nothing happens for no reason in particular. Thus, loved ones can be loaded in the case with the suicide of their relative with a burden of their responsibility for this and approaches to be the real reasons for such trouble.
Many seriously ill persons cannot inflict suicide and are lack of strength to do so, and their last days of life turn out to be total martyrdom. Such people can hardly realize the realities and where they are, because of the unconsciousness which follows them. It is, as I see, not the way out for such people. Actually, a gravely ill person suffering from pain does not live but is near to die every moment he/she feels monstrous pain going through his/her body. There should an alternative variant for resolving the problem.
In the contemporary world, there are too many facts stating about situations when people were willing to commit suicide due to a simple injection with poisonous ingredients. These cases were strictly criticized by the church, of course. In this prospect have you ever thought over mercy which one promotes for his/her relative in case of pre-death time? It is fair to state so when an ill person begs for committing suicide. That is why my personal opinion presupposes that there is no harm when a person suffering from ominous pain and who is nearly to die and asks to provide his/her death urges to commit suicide.
Wrapping up life one tries to find out ways to minimize the burdens for the loved ones. It is easy to say, but in reality, an individual should have a very strong character with points on their own experience about this or that state of soul and how to prevent such critical measurements. Here Hardwig points out that one who tries to minimize the pains of the loved ones should realize that everything which he or she wanted to make in real life was done at the moment. Moreover, the author provides a rational approach toward the way of ending the days: “I should have done what I can to ensure that they face at least the same range of opportunities for a good life as I have enjoyed” (Hardwig, p. 43).
In the case of suicide, it is better to reconsider the reasons for this act, first of all. Then, if there are many weighty points for this decision, a person should be capable to make some efforts to resolve all those issues which touched upon him/her in terms of the loved ones. A feeling of responsibility for them should be represented. This flow of love then will make the loved ones think of a gravely ill relative positively and, possibly, without feelings of guilt, for instance. Thus, a duty to die can be accomplished with a human approach. As far as I am concerned, there should be a bit of understanding within the loved ones also about their responsibility to estimate such a deed from the ethical, as Hardwig outlines, point of view (Hardwig, p. 45).
Works Cited
Hardwig, John. “Going to Meet Death.” Hastings Center Report 39.4 (2009): 37-45.